WBBL Play-offs, Semi-Final
London Lions 104-59 Caledonia Pride (30-18, 59-35, 82-51)
(Lions – Winterburn 29, Beckford-Norton 19, Leedham-Warner 13; Pride – James 23, Edwards 11, McGarrahan 10)
London Lions have booked their place in the WBBL Play-off Final as they continue to pursue an unbeaten season, beating Caledonia Pride 104-59 at the Copper Box Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Going for a quadruple, Lions started the game 7-0 as they didn’t allow their visitors a score in the opening two and half minutes, and it was double figures at 16-6 as Holly Winterburn scored 10 early points including a pair of three-pointers.
But Pride came in as a form team, having won ten of their last twelve league games to secure a highest-ever finish of sixth and make the Play-off semi-finals for the first time, and they cut the gap to 18-13 when Laken James hit a triple as she scored seven of her 23 points early on.
Unsurprisingly it was Jo Leedham-Warner who made the momentum-changing play for the hosts, responding with a three-pointer before captain Shanice Beckford-Norton came from the bench to provide a spark in what became a 9-0 response for a score of 27-13 on her tough drive.
And from there the lead was only momentarily back in single-figures, going through 20 in the second stanza as Lions held Pride scoreless for another four minutes and hit seven points themselves sparked by a Chantel Charles triple and including another pair of Winterburn scores as she reached 21 points with just one miss before the half.
The score was 76-44 after the break on a 12-4 run that started with a pair of Azania Stewart scores and was ended by Cassie Breen, before the Lions’ defence clamped down and allowed the visitors just one basket in seven minutes with a 19-2 opening to the fourth to ensure they would beat Pride by more than 40 points for the third time this season.
Lions were led by 29 points on 11-13 (84%) shooting and 5-7 (71%) three-pointers from Holly Winterburn, who also had seven rebounds, while Shanice Beckford-Norton had 19 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Kennedy Leonard handed out nine assists to go with her 11 points and Jo Leedham-Warner had 13 points and nine rebounds.
The hometown Lions will face the second seed Sevenoaks Suns in the Play-off Final at the O2 Arena on Sunday 15 May, live on Sky Sports.